


Numbers

by Raven (singlecrow)



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Deep Dish Nine, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-29
Updated: 2014-05-29
Packaged: 2018-01-27 02:26:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1711571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singlecrow/pseuds/Raven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garak comes to visit before lunch, and as a consequence Julian burns a tray of garlic bread and about two thirds of a ham and pineapple deep pan pizza.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Numbers

Garak comes to visit before lunch, and as a consequence Julian burns a tray of garlic bread and about two thirds of a ham and pineapple deep pan pizza. Sisko merely sighs and tells him to throw out the burnt bits and give anything edible away for free, which is how he ends up at one of the booths with a kid who looks at him with a moment’s curiosity and slight smile, then returns to his notepad and pen.

"Er, hi. Do you like pizza?"

The kid clasps his hands and remarks, gently, “I’m in a pizzeria.”

"Do you like free pizza?" Julian persists, and then takes the seat opposite him and gives up. "Kid, please. You don’t have to eat it. Just take it so I don’t have to die of embarrassment, okay?"

The kid tilts his head. “It is not possible to die from embarrassment. Although” - he pauses - “perhaps it is merely that no one has ever yet done so. You could be the first.”

"Thanks, kid, that’s super-reassuring" - but Julian’s laughing. "My name’s Julian, it’s good to meet you." He puts one of the pizza slices on a plate and goes back behind the counter into the kitchen.

"I figured," Jadzia says, lightly cutting, "you could take on dishwashing duty this afternoon. Not that much scope for disaster. Though you should try and be careful of sharp objects."

"You’ve never been in love, Jadzia," Julian tells her, pathetically, and goes to the sink. He washes up three cups and a teaspoon before he thinks to ask Ben about the customer at the booth. 

"The one who’s eating the pizza you burned?" Ben asks, with too much emphasis on the last word for Julian’s liking. "That’s Juliana’s boy. It was a sad story, but he’s a good kid. He works down the street at the French place. Does their book-keeping and such."

"Does he have a name?" Julian asks, because that’s Ben Sisko all over - of course, that’s Juliana’s boy, just as he himself is _our Julian_. Jadzia, wise old owl that she can be, gets to turn the tables sometimes, always addressing him lovingly as Benjamin, but Ben Sisko sees them all as friends and children and the children of friends. It’s a comfort. 

"I’m sure he does, but she always called him Data, for his head for numbers. Don’t even ask." Sisko shakes his head. "I think he even registered to vote that way. The kid’s social worker nearly threw a fit."

"Some people are so easily excitable," Jadzia says. "Julian, keep scrubbing or Benjamin will make you work off that pizza."

Julian scrubs. But after his shift finishes, Data is still there, still scribbling in his little notebook, so Julian sits down next to him and says, “I thought you’d want to know I haven’t died of embarrassment.”

"What a shame." Data looks up at him. "It would have been scientifically interesting."

"I bet." Julian can’t tell if he’s kidding, and suspects, judging from the almost-but-not-quite smile on Data’s face, that Julian might have to spend a lot more time with him before he’s any closer to making that call. He thinks, though, he would quite enjoy that: there’s something refreshing about the kid’s clear-eyed gaze. "I’m a medical student, when I’m not burning pizza. What about you?"

Data flips over the cover of his notebook rather than answer, and Julian realises abruptly that that head for numbers is probably a rare gift for pure mathematics. “Wow,” he says. “You’re really something.”

"Thank you," Data says, calmly. "You should take a deep breath and compose yourself."

"Why?" Julian asks, and the door opens and Garak’s voice says, "Julian. About this morning."

Julian jumps to his feet and knocks a fork, two napkins and a pepper pot to the floor. Still calmly, Data picks them all up, puts them all precisely back into place, and Julian thinks he sees the kid mouth, good luck, before his gaze drops back to his work. This time, Julian thinks ruefully, he’s definitely amused.

"Hi, Garak," Julian says. "About that. Yes."

Garak looks amused too, Julian is displeased to note.

**Author's Note:**

> In the [Deep Dish Nine AU](http://deep-dish-nine.tumblr.com), the gang are all human, Data and Garak included.


End file.
